


Forts & Feelings

by ZeroNoctem



Series: Ad Noctem [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Awkward Kissing, Awkward Romance, First Crush, First Kiss, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Tickle Fights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 18:57:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7399765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZeroNoctem/pseuds/ZeroNoctem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stormy weather and gloomy days might make for a dull afternoon but Eren's suggestion of a blanket fort competition leads to an unexpected--and awkward--situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forts & Feelings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Foxberry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxberry/gifts).



> This is dedicated to my wonderful friend Bel <3 For no reason other than she is so very lovely~

It was humid and uncomfortable outside, which is why I decided to hole up in the attic. I’m pretty sure you could get lost up here if you wanted to; the manor house turned orphanage is huge and the eaves around the edges of the loft space seem endless. Still, the stuffiness while slightly less up here wasn’t helping how restless I was feeling.

A rumble in the distance confirmed the oncoming storm was an eventuality not just a possibility as the weather forecast had said and I groaned. Don't get me wrong I loved storms, but I always ended up with a weird sort of pressure headache by the end of them which wasn't quite as fun as the shaking thunder and streaks of lightning.

I shifted in my seat at the large round window and watched the black clouds roll ever closer until there was nothing of the sky  _ but _ . It wasn't long before the sound of rain against the window brought me out of my trance and I watched as the droplets bounced off of the glass. Slow at first the rain soon picked up intensity until all I could see of the outside were blurred streaks through the waterfall against the window.

“It’s storming outside. The perfect weather for a blanket fort!" Eren's voice cut through the relative calm like a knife and I was torn between the feeling of irritation and the flutter in my chest at the sound of it.

"A fort, really?" I deadpanned, turning my gaze from the window to the green eyed boy across the room.

"Yeah.  _ Really _ ." He retorted with a sarcastic trill and I sighed.

"How old are you, five?" I groused, pursing my lips.

"Geez what crawled up your ass n died? C'mon it's boring as hell here when it's raining." He almost whined and I felt my eyebrow twitch at the same time my lips pulled into a defeated grin.

"Fine, fine. Bet mine'll be better!" I'm barely finished before I jump up and bolt across to the other end of the attic, skidding on the wooden floor for a moment as I make a dash around the first corner to where all the spare blankets and bedding are stored.

"Shit, I thought you didn't wanna! Slow down you skinny assed cheater!" His voice lilted on a laugh as his footsteps sped up and closed in from behind me.

I dived into the pile of folded sheets just as another rumble shook the house. It was loud and  almost deafening but somehow added to the competitive thrill running through my veins as I rolled out of the pile and began finding some boxes to stack.

By the time we were both done the rain was still falling heavily but it was no longer thundering outside. I was covered in a light sheen of sweat, enough that my t-shirt was sticking to my back and chest but not enough that I was dripping. A glance over at Eren laid flat out beneath the canopy of his own 'fort' showed he was in pretty much the same state. I licked my lips, his chest was heaving and he was grinning and I so loved these moments when we weren't really fighting.

It wasn't like I hated the guy, we just clashed. A lot. But he was pretty awesome too, not that I'd ever tell him that, and he was cute too. When I first realized that I sort of liked him a year ago I thought there was something seriously wrong with me. But a talk with Levi of all people resulted in me discovering the wonderful world of homosexuality and to be quite honest I'm still not completely comfortable with putting myself in that box. It's not like I think it's gross or wrong or anything, it just doesn't feel like it  _ quite _ fits.

Sure I'm only fourteen right now, but Eren's the only one that I ever had any interest in, and I'm still not even sure it's  _ sexual _ . But how the hell do I tell other than maybe trying to jerk off when I'm thinking about him, but that seemed sort of creepy and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The alternative would have been to ask  _ him _ to jerk me off or vice versa but call me a wuss or whatever there's no way I could do that either.

"Hey  _ neiiiighbour _ what're you spacing out about?" Eren's voice cut into my thoughts and I realized I'd been staring at him. Well... in his general direction, I wasn't actually consciously looking at anything.

"What? No, nothin'." I spoke quietly, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Suuure." He rolled over onto all fours and crawled across the space to my - admittedly poor attempt at a - fort. Stopping when he was right in front of me but remaining on all fours like a cat or something. "You thinking about a girl? You look sorta pervy heheh." He mocked me... at least I think he was mocking me but the smile seemed sort of fake.

"No! I'm not!" My hands instantly went to my face, slapping at my cheeks as if I'd be able to feel what my expression looked like but all I could feel was the heat of my blush.

"O-hooh now you're even blushing! You  _ were _ thinkin' bout a girl!" He leaned in a bit closer, too close for comfort actually and I leaned back a bit to get away from it. I could smell the mentos he'd eaten a little while ago on his breath.

"I was not thinkin' bout a  _ girl _ !" I almost wheezed the words out, hands pressed against the blanket laid out behind me as I licked my lips, far too conscious of how close he was.

"Oh? Not a  _ girl _ ?" He didn't elaborate, I had no idea if he was confused or knew about guys liking other guys.

Eren seemed to go quiet after that. We both did. He looked thoughtful as he stared at me and I sort of felt like a rabbit in the headlights of an oncoming truck. about to be hit but mesmerized by how bright it was. How bright  _ he _ was.

“Victory might as well be declared mine at this point.” He suddenly said, seemingly out of nowhere.

"What?" Frowning, I had no idea what the hell he was going on about for a long moment until he motioned to our respective forts.

"Mines better than yours." He grinned and crawled closer and I ended up on by back because I didn't want his face that damned close to mine. The problem now was the position we were in was very much not something my mind could take innocently and I cursed my hormones as I felt a weird warm feeling flood through me.

"No it's not!" I yelled before even looking at his properly. After I did, I pressed my lips together in a pout and shrugged my shoulders. "Fine. So what, it's dumb anyway." Ever the graceful loser I am.

"A least you admit defeat heheh." Then his hands were on my sides and tickling me and I choked out a really fucking embarrassing squeak as I squirmed and laughed.

"F-fuh-ck no- Eren stop it jeh-sushh ahaha!" I writhed for a moment before grabbing his shoulders, realizing that's futile I changed tactic and shoved my hands into his armpits to tickle him back.

He choked on his snort and we somehow ended up rolling about trying to win the spur of the moment tickle fight. He knew my weakness and I knew his by now but that didn't mean either of us went down easy. By the time I begged for it to stop we were both out of breath and trembling with adrenaline. I ended up on all fours above him, a reverse of our position from earlier and it suddenly hit me, again, how close we are. I instantly began feeling awkward and tensed up but Eren's hands on my forearms stopped me moving away.

“I want to take you somewhere you’ve never been.” He said around breaths and I had no fucking idea what he meant by that but within moments it didn't even matter because he was kissing me.

Eren yanked me down by the front of my shirt and our teeth clicked together painfully but that didn't stop him. It was warm and soft and sort of weird, but my heart was hammering in my chest as he closed his eyes. I didn't though. I couldn't. Eyes wide and staring at his lashes and the way his brow was drawn down and the dusting of pink I could just about see on his face. He was embarrassed too, he was  _ serious _ .

I didn't kiss back though, I didn't know  _ how _ and I was so frozen by it that by the time I was willing to try he was pulling back and looking away. Frowning. Oh shit.

"Eren I..." I began but then there was a yell from downstairs and I  _ hate _ Levi for interrupting.

"Eren! Jean! Get your shitty asses down here now or you'll be cleaning the dinner up instead of eating it!" Eren jolted at the sound and shoved me off of him roughly. The moment is broken and he looked weird and uncomfortable and without another word he left the attic.

I was left there feeling confused and guilty. It was still raining and I could hear thunder in the distance again. But as I pulled myself to my feet and brushed myself off I decided I really needed to try and make up with him. I didn't believe for a moment that there would be a time where we weren't competitive or even arguing but just then was not a normal argument. It was... It was  _ nice _ and then it was awkward. I couldn't leave it that way.

I almost missed dinner that night. It took a week for us to get back to normal, but neither of us mentioned the kiss again. Then a few days after that the storm that changed my life forever came crashing down to ruin everything.


End file.
